Arise. What an inspiring, beautiful, passionate, and hopeful word. That’s why a team of us selected this word for the theme of our Arts Conference 2008. Maybe like me, when you hear the word arise, you think… arise and what?  So many phrases come to mind to complete the charge:

• Arise and Heal
• Arise and Repent
• Arise and Refresh
• Arise and Grow
• Arise and Think Deeply
• Arise and Lead
• Arise and Be Courageous
• Arise and Build Community

But if I was pressed to select my top three for this year, it would be these:

• Arise and Craft Moments
• Arise and Bring Hope
• Arise and Go Forth

Let me briefly describe what is behind each of those big ideas.

Arise and Craft Moments
Church artists and teachers can easily lose sight of what we are ultimately trying to do, especially when it comes to Sunday morning services. I believe that our goal should be to craft moments when people can connect with God – transcendent moments. We all know that only God can ultimately cause transformation in a human heart. But when we partner with Him, when we develop our skills and prayerfully create, we allow space for that mighty anointing power to work. Whether the result is a moment of awe and wonder at the beauty and majesty of God, or a deep identification with the reality of the human experience, we see hearts opening up to the work of the only One who can ultimately change us. The world is changed one heart at a time, one moment at a time.

As I visit other churches and also participate in my own faith community, I am struck by all that goes into the crafting of these God-moments. I keep coming back to the idea of instincts. Artists and teachers – all of us – need to grow in the development and honing of our instincts, our ability to discern what will engage and move people, how to nuance a potential moment, how to write and then deliver material that has the greatest potential for life-changing connection. Can a person really learn and grow in their instincts? Yes, I believe we can all learn the skills needed to feel out moments ahead of time, extend moments and pull together the elements that create moments.  We must be intentional about building this skill, and expose ourselves to great art and outstanding communication while keeping our ears open to the cry of the culture wherever we live. Most of all, we must quiet our souls enough to hear the whispers of the Holy Spirit, who can shape and confirm our instincts if only we will listen.

Arise and Bring Hope
It’s not easy for church artists and teachers to hold tightly to hope. That’s because what we do is exceedingly difficult and often discouraging and draining. Our team longs to be one conduit of hope for your weary soul, lifting, ennobling, and inspiring you to remember all over again why what you do matters so very much. As all of us cling tightly to the hope we have in Christ, and our firm belief that the local church is the hope of the world, we can then offer worship experiences that help people connect with God and leave church more hope-filled than when they first walked in. 

Arise and Go Forth
More and more church artists and teachers are actively seeking to “take ministry to the streets,” to find ways to more intentionally make a difference in the lives of those far from God AND address the needs of poverty, disease, and injustice. This passion is not hard to find – it’s everywhere I turn! I, for one, am so thrilled and inspired by what I see happening locally, nationally, and around the world as Christians arise and determine to make some kind of difference for God in the neediest and darkest of places.

Through our art and our teaching, we must declaratively and unapologetically call believers to move out of our safe comfort zones and holy huddles into the adventure of bringing healing and holistic help to our broken world. I see this passion in my own church and modeled by other teams all over the world. We must share our stories and learn from one another. Together we can be used by God to actually make a discernible difference!

Arise … and Come to the Arts Conference!
All of these big ideas have shaped and formed our team as we plan for this year’s conference in June. We are in the final stages of inviting speakers and guest artists to join us. The grid we are using to discern our choices is a simple one – who has the potential, when anointed by God, to lift church artists and teachers with a vision for fulfilling our callings, impacting our world, and penetrating the culture with authentic and transformational artistic moments and preaching?  Who will shake us up and make us think? Who will stun us with artistic excellence? Who will awaken our deepest longings and move us to greater levels of developing instincts, godly character, and authentic ministry?

We already have two outstanding speakers lined up who we believe God will use in a mighty way – Brian McLaren and Francis Chan. In addition, we are in the final stages of adding just the right guest artists and key interviews to make the experience deeply moving and memorable.

The Arts Conference is a one-of-a-kind experience for teams of church artists and pastors to engage in together. For two and a half days, we have the opportunity to gather with people who truly get us, and to be reminded that we are not crazy for giving ourselves and our gifts to the building of God’s kingdom. In addition to receiving refreshment for our weary souls and a vision for our increased impact, we have the rare opportunity to further develop our skills through practical workshops and intimate conversations with leaders who may be a little further along and can impart their wisdom from the trenches. And there is absolutely nothing like the power of over 5,000 artists and teachers worshiping God together and sharing in holy moments that penetrate the heart!

I hope you will discern soon how many team members you can bring this year, and register to get the best rates and the first choices for breakouts. As we continue to pray and to plan, we promise to diligently offer our own gifts and instincts to create an experience that God can use to lift you and equip you. Please join us…and let’s arise together.